Poll: Horror games are scarier in first person

[Ryanrulez5]

Its a weird question but I believe that most horror games that have spooked me have been first person third person horrors have just never scared me as much probably due to the fact because the first person view makes me feel like I am looking through the characters eyes experiencing all this.

Anyone else want to agree or argue against it by telling of a horror game that they that wasn't in first person view?

 

[aguspal]

Well, Dead Rising 2 is thirdperson and the zombie scares made me starte a little. Nothing big obviously, but it does get you a little each time it happens. Thats more than what I can say of the "true" horror games- I never found a proper horror game to be... well, horror. It just not scary if you know what it is about. Instead in other games were those moments are found, but are not the premise of the game, are actually scary imo (Another good example is Minecraft´s dark caves?

 

[NightmareExpress]

Resident Evil (Remake).
It used tank controls and set camera angles that changed quite frequently.
But that's what makes it exactly like FPS horror games; the deliberate choice to have the players unaware that something is coming. In FPS games, it's often from behind or otherwise out of sight while TPS games have things coming from around corners or from the sides. The remake on the Gamecube had excellent atmosphere and graphics that were well ahead of its time (though pre-rendered). You are highly encouraged not to kill zombies, because leaving them to rot brings them back as a much more powerful enemy after a certain amount of time has passed. Thus, you had to dodge them in cramped corners whenever possible lest you have a fetish for fetching kerosene over and over for body cremation. The tanks with kerosene run out, so you'd have to locate another one if you were particularly trigger happy.

Clock Tower (SNES) was also quite unnerving, likely due to the general inaction going on. The atmosphere was creepy and most of the "creepiness" that the game has stems from your own mind making sense of the pixel world. But periodically, Scissorman would pop out and you'd need to scramble to a hiding place on a separate screen (each hiding place only works once). You had no means of defense in this game, and had to avoid traps/Scissorman and the other hazards that popped out.

Thus, I believe that horror comes from gimping the player in some way (be it restricting vision, movement or highly discouraging combat) and maintaining a good atmosphere throughout the experience.

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

First person horror games are a bit scarier because of the restricted viewpoints (also what made the first couple of resident evil games scary). The viewpoints could make you feel like a spider was crawling up your neck in amnesia. Visual perspectives matter which is why I wasn't scared in Dead Space, because I could take a full look at the monster and see where to shoot it, in Resident Evil you had to take your chances with the switching angles. Amnesia, by not allowing you to look behind or obscuring monsters with vision blur, became a terrifying game.

 

[Ravinoff]

Depends. A first-person horror game like Amnesia or (oddly enough) certain sections of STALKER? Yeah, definitely. But something where you're armed to the teeth like the FEAR series or Doom 3, not so much. Well, D3 had loads of jump scares, but FEAR 2 and 3 basically relied on the time-tested tactic of "things are getting creepy? Equip shotgun, find target, time slow, empty magazine. Repeat as necessary."

 

[Tom_green_day]

When I'm wrestling with the camera controls, I find it hard to be scared by anything. Not too much of a fan of third person, and with First Person making you feel more immersed in the character you are playing as, I thing First Person is scarier.

 

[daveman247]

Its a weird question but I believe that most horror games that have spooked me have been first person third person horrors have just never scared me as much probably due to the fact because the first person view makes me feel like I am looking through the characters eyes experiencing all this.

Anyone else want to agree or argue against it by telling of a horror game that they that wasn't in first person view?

Sure i'll agree ^_^ Games like condemned are definitley scary-er because of the perspective. You ever tried project zero 2 in FPS view? (It let you choose) Lordy.

The first four silent hill games were still scary though, down to the sounds I guess.

snip

Yeah fear relies on alma popping up out of nowhere. I call a "jump" a cheap scare :/

Still there was one particular corridor in fear 2 that got to me. The level in the school where zombie-alma is disappearing with the flickering lights was really well done. Probably the scariest 30 seconds in the whole series, too bad they couldn't do that more often.

 

[alphamalet]

There are plenty games that would beg to differ with the whole "first-person is scarier" line.

Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and Resident Evil are just a few.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Disagree. The whole Silent Hill series is proof that perspective doesn't make a game scarier. Lone survivor is a more recent example.

Personally the perspective doesn't matter to me whatsoever, but I'm a sucker for well done fixed camera angles. They can be really creepy and cool if done well. For example Resident Evil 0 used them and they looked great. Especially since they often weren't static and had moving parts, like on the train you can see bottles rolling around on the table and things swaying as the train moves, and out of the window you can see things rushing by and the curtains are blowing.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

First person horror games are a bit scarier because of the restricted viewpoints (also what made the first couple of resident evil games scary). The viewpoints could make you feel like a spider was crawling up your neck in amnesia. Visual perspectives matter which is why I wasn't scared in Dead Space, because I could take a full look at the monster and see where to shoot it, in Resident Evil you had to take your chances with the switching angles. Amnesia, by not allowing you to look behind or obscuring monsters with vision blur, became a terrifying game.

yup this entirely. the viewpoint cone is what matters mostly, not to mention in third person you can see your body/if something is hitting/sneaking up on you, in first person the biggest slender you've ever seen could be behind you and you'd have no clue.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

I still attest that the first strolls into Rapture was one of the most intense and frightening moments I've ever played in a game.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

First person would be scarier for jump scares and the like simply because of the limited field of view that you would have. Outside of that context though it's really the atmosphere of the game that makes the game tense and scary, and that's experienced the same way whether you're in first or third person, in first person you just have the extra bit of tension because you can't see nearly as well, or track multiple enemies well simultaneously, but that has less to do with the actual horror aspects of the game.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

It can, depending on the kind of horror you're going for. Most japanese horror games I've come across have third person cameras because their horror is more cerebral and less of the jump scare type. It relies a lot on atmosphere and things just seeming off

Other kinds of horror that rely on more of the sudden scare after building tension(like Amnesia) do well with first person cameras due to a limited field of view and less awareness of your surroundings. That extra second or two it takes you to turn and face a noise can make it all the more terrifying.

It's a design choice, and not one you should make lightly. In the end, one is not better than the other, they're just different.

 

[xPixelatedx]

Yeah, as others have said, the Silent Hill series is still top tier in horror. At least, the first games are.

I find it much more frightening to actually be able to see whats slowly creeping up behind you while you frantically try to run/leave, Silent Hill is full of that. You miss a lot of that with first person, and that limited perspective may even make the game resort to a lot of jump scares; which don't really do anything for me.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

I would tend to disagree.
While the 1st person view might go a bit towards allowing the player to step into the role of the protagonist it fails to immerse me in the story precisely because of all the little things that you don't notice from day to day that aren't in an FPS game.

For example I just assume every FPS hero is wearing hover boots because we rarely hear footsteps and the first person camera doesn't have the slight bob and weave that you come to expect from walking. It's also very rare for these games to have a real tactile feel to them. Clubbing splicers in the noggin with a pipe wrench may be fun but there's very little these games can to to emulate the feel of just such an attack.

Of the other hand a 3rd person view doesn't necessitate a consistent viewpoint for the character so it can allow for more interaction with the world. When James Sunderland clubs a monster to death with a lead pipe you can see the physical effort going into the attack, and see the resistance as the weapon makes contact.

To me it's the latter that allows for more immersion into the game itself. While I can't put myself in the shoes of James Sunderland or Leon Kennedy I find that I can be more emotionally invested in the story and therefore more likely to be frightened when things go wrong.

 

[Rednog]

I would disagree because generally with first person games you tend to be armed in one way or another and you usually can be a crack-shot against whatever is attacking you. But with 3rd person I usually can't be the same dead eye and I feel more vulnerable and less safe.

Also with first person games, they rarely tend to throw anything behind you, because it would be pretty damn hard/unfair. So when you know to expect everything scary to be in front of you, you generally feel a bit safer. But with 3rd person games you do get that partial view behind you so game developers usually see it as fair to throw stuff from any direction which in my opinion makes things a lot more tense.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

I think OP is generally absolutely right.

However, with Demon's and Dark Souls, the horror soon gets well beyond skin deep once you get used to and accept the presentation. The first time the Taurus Demon made his surprise appearance, I nearly peed my pants and panicked quite a bit. The first Capra Demon confrontation is nightmare inducing, giving folks that usually don't have any issues a taste of claustrophobia.

Every time you see something strange and scary from afar, it usually piques your interest... and when you finally reach it, and it turns out to be a scary place and a huge big bad, you usually wish you were somewhere completely different, as death is sometimes very likely to happen. After a while, you can get truly paranoid about the slightest sounds. Every time you enter a new area, it eventually becomes quite natural to always expect the worst... it's what keeps you alive.

I like that.

First person can very well be OK. But, alas, the actual fighting mechanics (if there are any beyond pew pew pew shooty shooty bang bang) tend to be rather dull and simple. Which is OK for games like Slenderman or other titles that are different enough, but it really gets annoying fast in everything from Generic Crap Game X to, well, even Skyrim. I like magic and bows in Skyrim, to some extent, but melee combat is just so unrefined it hurts.

 

[Mikejames]

The first games that come to mind that legitimately scared me were the Silent Hill and Fatal Frame series. So, I disagree.

Yeah, as others have said, the Silent Hill series is still top tier in horror. At least, the first games are.

I find it much more frightening to actually be able to see whats slowly creeping up behind you while you frantically try to run/leave, Silent Hill is full of that. You miss a lot of that with first person, and that limited perspective may even make the game resort to a lot of jump scares; which don't really do anything for me.

It does seem like a good way to take in the whole effect of the immediate environment.
That is, once you stop wrestling with fixed camera angles in time to see that Pyramid Head's following you..